Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Grammar - sentence patterns

Grammar    -   sentence patterns     SVC,  SVO, SVA, SVOA, SVCA. 

Look at the following sentences.

1. Trees/ preserve/ the soil.
      S          V           O

2. The neem trees / are grown/ in villages and towns.
              S                   V                       A

3. We/ have planted/ neem saplings/ in our school campus.
      S          V                   O                              A

4. Trees    / give       / us /       shade.
        S         V            IO           DO

5. The villagers / call / the neem tree / their village pharmacy.
           S                V           O                             C

6. The neem trees / are / useful / in many ways.
                S              V        C               A


Note: A sentence is a group of words arranged in a specific order which makes complete sense. It comprises smaller units called elements. They are: Subject (S), Verb (V), Complement (C), Object (O) and Adjunct (A).

Subject : It denotes the person or thing about which something is said. It can be a noun, a pronoun, an infinitive, a gerund, a noun phrase or clause.

Verb : Write, read... are called transitive verbs. Trasitive  verbs have objects. Sleep, come, go, become.... are called intransitive verbs. They have no objects. If the transitive verbs have two objects (answer to what and to whom) they are called ditransitive verbs.


Object : The object that answers the question ‘what’ is the DO. The object that answers the question ‘to whom’ is IO.

Complement : It completes the predicate of a sentence. It is an essential part. The subject complement describes orcharacterises the subject. The object complement describes or characterises the object.

Adjunct : It gives additional meaning. It answers to the question how (manner), when (time), where (place) etc.


Task 1 : Read the following anecdote. Identify the sentence  patterns. Circle the number  corresponding to the correct pattern of the sentence.

1. S V

2. S V O

3. S V A

4. S V O A

5. S V O A A

6. S V IO DO

7. S V A A

1. A man and his wife were walking along a street. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. They came across a penguin. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. They were surprised. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. They thought for a while. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. They took it to the police station. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. The policeman asked them to take it to the zoo. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. The policeman was walking down the same street the next day. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. He saw the couple again. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. He saw the penguin in their hands. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. They gave him the explanation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. “We took her to the zoo yesterday.” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

12. “We take her to the Golden beach now.” 1 2 3 4 5 6 7


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